Castleholme Lodge

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

Effective – this means we looked for evidence that people’s care, treatment and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on best available evidence.

This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated good.

This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

This service scored 79 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, well being and communication needs with them.

Pre-admission assessments were completed, and detailed care plans were created and tailored to each person. These included detailed information about health needs, personal history, and preferences, which enabled staff to understand people’s needs, provide care that was responsive to any changes, and focus on people’s preferences and specific ways in which they wanted to be supported.

People and those important to them were involved in the planning and ongoing review of their care.

The provider planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. They did this in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards.

We saw evidence of nationally recognised tools, such as the malnutrition universal screening tool (MUST) being used to monitor and review people’s nutritional needs, with appropriate actions and referrals to appropriate professionals being made, if required.

Staff delivered care in line with recognised best practice for people living with mental illness, adapting their approach to meet individual needs. Staff had an excellent understanding of people’s behavioural triggers and how they may respond to the provision of care. For example, staff told us about a person who continually declined personal care, which impacted on their overall well-being. Staff explored potential causes and used a graded approach to engage with the person, which helped reduce their distress and enable them to be supported more effectively.

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. They made sure people only needed to tell their story once by sharing their assessment of needs when people moved between different services.

There was effective communication between teams, and key information and updates were shared appropriately which ensured care and support was effective.

Staff respected their colleagues and were keen to share knowledge and good practice for the benefit of people they supported. There was access to specialist ‘champions’, for example in infection prevention and control, who acted as mentors, guiding staff in their areas of expertise. This approach complemented strong partnerships with external professionals, ensuring people benefited from a well-coordinated approach to care.

The provider supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

The service offered a holistic approach to individual care delivery. People’s physical, emotional, social, and mental health needs were supported by the multi-disciplinary team, which included an occupational therapist and psychologist who were available on site during the week.

Daily activity planners were available for every one who wished to engage, and additional support could be arranged flexibly to enable people to access off site activities, such as swimming at a nearby pool or local walks to promote health and well-being. People were also supported to engage with trips of their choice.

The psychologist reviewed and treated people’s mental health needs and ensured any changes were identified quickly, allowing medication and therapeutic intervention to be adapted accordingly to ensure the best outcomes for people.

The service had produced a relational safety toolkit, which was a set of 8 easy-read cards and a poster which offered support to people with relationships and personal safety. The cards covered topics as consent and sexual safety, staying safe online, and rights within relationships, and were handed out by staff to people who may find them helpful.

Some people had been prescribed medications to support with their weight loss journeys, and staff encouraged them to eat healthier foods by accompanying them on shopping trips and providing education around their food choices.

People were enabled to grow their own fruit and vegetables in the home’s grounds, which could then be used to prepare healthy meals in the communal kitchen area, supported by staff.

The service provided an excellent choice of meals prepared by their award-winning chef, which included different dietary requirements such as vegetarian, and those for people who required different textured meals due to their risk of choking. People were encouraged to discuss food in monthly meetings to ensure every person had access to quality meals of their choice.

The provider routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

The management team were able to demonstrate how person-centred approaches and multi-disciplinary working led to meaningful improvements in people’s independence and wellbeing.

People were supported by the team to learn activities of daily life (ADL)skills, such as tidying their rooms, making hot drinks and snacks, keeping the communal kitchen area clean after use, and understanding food hygiene and storage. People were set realistic goals, and their progress was monitored and recorded to enable staff to adapt individual support needs.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment.

The management team worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). The MCA provides a legal framework for making decisions on behalf of people who may lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. If people did not have capacity to make decisions, appropriate procedures had been followed to ensure any decisions made were in people’s best interests.

Staff understood the MCA and the impact this legislation had on their role. One staff member told us, “If [person]refuses care or treatment, I will tend to leave them and go back later or I will try to distract them with conversation and try again”.